PSL Tactics – Seven Tactical Innovations This Season

As the PSL enters a break for international football, we look at seven sides’ tactics so far this season and how they are getting an advantage over opponents by making key tactical tweaks.

This season, Chiefs have been much more settled in terms of team shape, starting with a diamond in midfield for all but one game so far. Against Cape Town City, Chiefs were blown away in the first half using a 4-3-3 shape but switched to the narrow midfield four for the second half and turned the game on its head.

The key player tactically has been Bernard Parker. Under Middendorp last season, he was usually seen towards the right touchline as part of the German coach’s “split striker” system. However, after the arrivals of Samir Nurkovic and Lazarous Kambole, a change of position has been required for the 33-year-old.

He has largely played on the left of the diamond in a highly-demanding shuttler role which asks him to both track opposition fullbacks and tuck-in to supplement central midfield. However, in two recent matches where Chiefs have been chasing the game, Parker has dropped into an attacking fullback role.

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Against Cape Town City, he moved to left-back after 65 minutes and just 15 minutes later, Chiefs had turned a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 lead, with Parker’s deep cross finding Nurkovic and leading to the winner. Against AmaZulu, he moved to right-back after 75 minutes and Amakhosi scored twice in the final 15 odd minutes to win 2-0.

Against Polokwane City, he also dropped to left-back but Chiefs could not turn around the result and lost 1-0. Although Parker’s displays this season have not set any matches alight, and some of his shooting from range has been wild, his versatility and great attitude have been crucial to Chiefs’ strong start.

This season, Sundowns have alternated between 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-2-2 shape. This always features two deep midfielders to receive off the central defenders and find teammates further forward. As Kekana heads towards his 35th birthday, there have been certain games where Sibusiso Vilakazi has dropped deep to help the build-up play, allowing Kekana to conserve energy further forward.

Pitso Mosimane explained the change by saying:

“We are pushing Kekana more forward to play the number 8 role because he can shoot and he has an eye for the pass. I also moved ‘Vila’ closer to Kekana in the middle to take some of the load off him. Vila is the guy to come and get the ball from Rivaldo.”

This has worked very well for Sundowns, making the side even harder to press with the positional interchange. Having Vilakazi deeper has also allowed Gaston Sirino to play as one of the front two when the 4-2-2-2 is used, whilst Jose Ali Meza has also been used in attack for his pace and work-rate.

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The arrival of Thamsanqa Gabuza at Matsatsantsa meant that Kaitano Tembo had a problem to solve – where to play Bradley Grobler. The obvious answer is to pair him in a front two with the former Orlando Pirates target man, but that meant Evans Rusike would have to play on the flank in a midfield four and therefore take on ill-suited defensive duties.

Tembo has found the answer by having Gabuza lead the line, Grobler playing slightly deeper and to the left, and Rusike playing as an advanced right-winger. The trio rarely drops into defensive positions, whilst a midfield three controls proceedings behind them. This can leave the side exposed defensively on the flanks, but it does ask questions of opponents who feel obliged to leave at least four men back.

This solution was stumbled-upon by the coach due to Aubrey Modiba’s early-season hamstring injury. Now that the latter has returned, he has covered at left-back for the suspended Onismor Bhasera, giving yet another attacking weapon to the side when he gets forward. Once Bhasera returns, Modiba could either replace one of the front three or play in central midfield. It’s a good dilemma to have.

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In the first four games of the season, Stellenbosch netted just one goal. Since then, Robyn Johannes has come into the side as a defensive midfielder and Stellenbosch have scored seven goals in their next four matches.

How has adding a natural central defender to midfield had the effect of actually making the side more dangerous in attack? The answer is that the former Bidvest Wits man has allowed Steve Barker to play a more adventurous front-line. Instead of having Iqraam Rayners up front alongside Ryan Moon in a 3-5-2 formation, the side have been able to use three forwards in recent weeks.

Rayners has moved to a wider role, Waseem Isaacs has led the line (scoring four goals in four starts) and one of Leletu Skelem or Moon can support that duo too. This is all because Johannes controls the team’s balance and offers greater passing ability than the other deep-lying midfielder options.

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Rhulani Mokwena described Steve Komphela’s Golden Arrows side as “awkward” ahead of Pirates’ meeting with them in late August. Despite only decent results on the face of it, Komphela is actually doing a great job with very limited playing personnel in Durban.

The Kroonstad-born coach alternates between a back four and back five in the defensive organisation phase, but it’s what the side does when building up which is so challenging to deal with.

One of Danny Phiri or Gladwin Shitolo drops into the middle of the defence to create a spare man, allowing the fullbacks to push into advanced positions. This makes Arrows difficult to press high up the pitch; drawing teams out and leaving space for their pacey attackers to exploit.

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The biggest change since Rhulani Mokwena took over as Bucs’ head coach is his regular use of a lopsided shape and his interesting usage of players in new positions. Whereas Pirates usually had a symmetrical shape in the past, they now often have one player high and wide on a single flank with a deeper “winger” on the far side.

The players who most bring this unpredictability to Pirates are Siphesihle Ndlovu and Innocent Maela. Out of possession, Ndlovu’s role has often been to cover counter-attacks on the right flank, whilst once Pirates have the ball, he moves inside to the right half-space zone with Augustine Mulenga on the right flank, looking to isolate the opposition’s fullback.

Maela, meanwhile, has played in central defence in a back four, on the left of a back three, and in an asymmetrical role in a back four where the right fullback pushes high up and he tucks in to leave three defenders back in “rest defence” – essentially how teams’ defenders position themselves to anticipate counter-attacks and win the ball immediately to pin opponents back in their own half.

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Having used a 3-5-2 formation for the first five games of the season and picking up just two points, Eric Tinkler switched to a back four with wingers and managed to eke out two narrow 1-0 wins to make things look a lot rosier. With Cape Town City and Orlando Pirates up next, the coach will need to find the right setup for those games on the road.

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